Ristar (Ristar the Shooting Star (リスター・ザ・シューティングスター, Risutā za Shūtingu Sutā?) in Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is) is a platform game The platform game is a video game genre characterized by jumping to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles (jumping puzzles). It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps. The most common unifying element to these games is a jump button; other jump mechanics include swinging from extendable arms, as published A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer by Sega Sega Corporation is a multinational video game software and hardware development company, and a home computer and former console manufacturer headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan. The company is famous for its SEGA! chant that appeared on both commercials and games like Sonic the Hedgehog. The company had success with both arcades and home consoles, and developed A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Sony's PlayStation 3, PSP, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Nintendo's Wii, Nintendo DS, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers by Sonic Team Sonic Team is a Japanese computer and video game developer established in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan in 1988, originally known as Sega AM8. The Japan-based division is also known as G.E. Department Global Entertainment. The studio has collaborated with several in-house Japanese studios as well as other American-based studios such as STI and Visual for the Sega Mega Drive The Mega Drive is a fourth-generation video game console released by Sega in Japan in 1988 and Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990. The console was released in North America in 1989 under the name Sega Genesis, as Sega was unable to secure legal rights to the Mega Drive name in that region. The Mega Drive was Sega's fifth home console in 1995.
The game stars a cartoonish humanoid star who uses his hands to both move and combat enemies. It was originally released on the Mega Drive, and was also included as an unlockable game in Sonic Mega Collection for the GameCube The Nintendo GameCube , officially abbreviated as GCN in Western regions[citation needed] and as NGC in Japan, is Nintendo's fourth home video game console and is part of the sixth generation console era. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 and predecessor to the Wii and on the Xbox The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console market, and competed with Sony's PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony. The successor to the PlayStation, and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 2 forms part of the PlayStation series of video game consoles. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was released a year later in Japan. Its primary competitors and PC A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator. This is in contrast to the batch processing or time-sharing models which allowed large expensive mainframe as part of Sonic Mega Collection Plus. A Game Gear The Sega Game Gear was an ill-fated handheld console attempt by Sega to outsell Nintendo's Game Boy. It was the third commercially available color handheld console, after the Atari Lynx and the TurboExpress version which features different levels than the Mega Drive version was also released.
The game is also available in North America on Sega Genesis Collection for PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony. The successor to the PlayStation, and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 2 forms part of the PlayStation series of video game consoles. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was released a year later in Japan. Its primary competitors and PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable is a handheld console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on May 11, 2004 at a Sony press conference before E3 2004. The system was released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in the PAL region on, on Wii The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others. As of September 2010, the Wii leads the generation over the's Virtual Console Virtual Console , sometimes abbreviated as VC, is a specialized section of the Nintendo Wii Shop Channel, an online service that allows players to purchase and download games and other software for Nintendo's Wii gaming console. The Virtual Console lineup consists of titles originally released on past consoles. These titles are run in their service,[1] and as a part of Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft, and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles and PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles.
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History
Ristar developed from an idea originally put forward during design talks for the character who would later become Sonic the Hedgehog Sonic the Hedgehog , trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog,, is a video game character and the protagonist of the Sonic video game series released by Sega, as well as in numerous spin-off comics, cartoons and books. The first Sonic game was released on June 23, 1991, in order to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's flagship character Mario (see. Yuji Naka, head of Sonic Team, recalled in 1992 1992 was a leap year that started on a Wednesday. In the Gregorian calendar, it was the 1992nd year of the Common Era, or of Anno Domini; the 992nd year of the 2nd millennium; the 92nd year of the 20th century; and the 3rd of the 1990s:
At first we used a character that looked like a rabbit with ears that could extend and pick up objects. As the game got faster and faster, we needed to come up with a special characteristic to give our character some power over his enemies. I remembered a character I had thought about years ago who could roll himself into a ball and slam into enemies. Hedgehogs can roll themselves into a ball, so we decided to go from a rabbit to a hedgehog.[2]
Some years later, the game starring that rabbit-type character was developed separately from Sonic, and eventually evolved into a prototype called Feel. The rabbit resemblance in Feel was already phased out and the character no longer used his ears, but his arms (though there is an enemy rabbit that uses its ears to attack in the first level). After some changes in the main character, and going through several names (including "Dextar"), that game eventually became what is now known as Ristar. The name also went through further changes during development of the Western versions, going from Ristar the Shooting Star to Dexstar, and finally to Ristar.
Story
The game takes place in the seven-planet Valdi System (also known as the "Vadji" System according to the back of the European box). An evil space pirate, Kaiser Greedy, has made the planets' leaders obey him. The inhabitants of Planet Neer (Flora outside Japan) pray for a hero before Greedy's mind control snatches them. The desperate prayers reach the nebula of the Star Goddess, Oruto. She awakens one of her children, Ristar, with the sole purpose of granting the wishes of the innocent people. He must stop Greedy and the brainwashed leaders of each world in the galaxy, to restore peace to the galaxy.
In Mega Drive versions outside Japan, Oruto is not seen. Instead, Ristar has a father figure, the Legendary Hero, who is a shooting star that protects the Valdi System. Rather than Oruto awakening Ristar, the Legendary Hero was kidnapped by Greedy, and it is up to Ristar to rescue his father as well. However, Oruto is still seen in the Game Gear version.
Gameplay
Ristar is unable to jump as high as most platformer protagonists do, but his jumps have a bit more hang time, meaning he stays in the air longer. By pressing the grab button, Ristar will stretch his hands forward, grabbing whatever is ahead of him. The player can make his hands go in any one of eight directions by combining the attack with any direction on the control pad, except downward while on the ground. When Ristar grabs an enemy, he will continue to hold it until the button is released, causing him to collide with the enemy and destroy them. He can also grab walls and obstacles this way and it is possible, albeit time-consuming, to climb walls by continually grabbing diagonally up a wall. It is possible to get on top of walls via this method, but it is rather difficult because of the timing and reflexes needed to keep Ristar from plummeting. This move can be used in a variety of ways, such as grabbing a mid-air enemy to swing across gaps, or holding onto an enemy to avoid getting pulled in by a current.
Ristar's health is shown as four stars in the upper-right corner of the screen. Taking damage removes one star. When all four are gone, the last star falls on Ristar's head and he loses a life. Stars can be found throughout the levels, which replenish his health. These and other items must be picked up manually with Ristar's attack. A gold star restores one hit point, while a silver star refills health completely. A tiny icon of Ristar adds an extra life to the total.
During levels, the player will occasionally come across cranks with a star-shaped base that, when grabbed, they may be spun on to gain momentum and shoot off toward the edge of the screen. The player may control Ristar's speed and direction with the control pad. If he has enough momentum, Ristar will begin to fly with a trail of stars behind him (called a "Shooting Star"). During these flights, any enemies that are touched will be destroyed and regular hazards will not deal any damage. Since Ristar flies at a high speed and rebounds easily, it can be difficult to control his flight and on Hard and Super difficulties, his flight cannot be controlled at all. When Ristar loses enough momentum, he will cease flight and drop to the ground, though his momentum will last longer from bouncing off walls than just flying straight. At the end of all regular levels, a more elaborate crank will appear for Ristar to fly from. This allows the player to gain a great amount of altitude and the higher Ristar is when he leaves the screen, the more bonus points are added on to the player's score.
Each regular level also contains one special crank that Ristar can grab onto. Grabbing this makes him automatically spin and launch himself off the top of screen into a bonus stage. These bonus stages involve getting through an obstacle course in order to reach a treasure within a given time limit. Completing the level in a fast time will earn the player a continue. Their difficulty increases as the game progresses. When the game is completed, cheat codes are revealed depending on how many treasures are collected.
Each planet consists of a mini-boss at the end of the first level, and a main boss after the second. Some of the minigame bosses involve puzzles, such as hitting enemies in the order they appear.
Version differences
Aside from the aforementioned storyline changes, several other notable differences exist between the Japanese and international versions of Ristar.[3]
- Planet names change between the different versions of Ristar.
- The Western version's enemies were altered to appear more threatening, and the "angry" Ristar sprite is used throughout the entire game.
- Most of the idle animations have been removed in Western versions.
- A skiing sequence was added to the start of round five. Sprites for a skiing Ristar actually exist in the Japanese ROM, though it is completely unused.
- Itamor was changed from a giant mechanical cat to an ice monster. This is because of a pun ('cat-tongue') that works in Japanese.
- Anti-gravity shoes were added to round six. However, the "swimming on air" sequence still exists in the Japanese version. The same shoe sprites exist in the Japanese ROM as well.
- Notes appear next to the giant mechanical birds when they are about to peck down on Planet Neuos / Sonata. This was removed in Western versions, though the birds still stop moving their heads right before they peck.
- The names of the treasures in the bonus stages were removed. On a related note, if all the treasures are collected, Ristar says "Miracle" in the Japanese version and "Good job" in the Western versions.
- The European version of Ristar is one of the few Mega Drive games to take advantage of the larger resolution used by PAL systems.
- The second stage of the Japanese Game Gear version, Fanturn, is edited in the English versions. The first part is entirely cut, and only the second part exists. It is dubbed Terra, and gives off more of an earthly vibe than the original "fantasy dream" tone.
- Also in the Game Gear version, Planet Timu is renamed Freon for its similarity to the Mega Drive version in that sense, despite the levels having more of a focus on time and clocks.
- The ending scene shown after credits in the Japanese version of the game, shows that Greedy, Uranim, and Inonis ended up on a deserted planet or moon. A picture of Ristar appears in the space, while Greedy simply stares at it. The English version shows Ristar being re-united with his father again.
Reception
Although sales were not highly successful due to the increasing popularity of 32 and 64 bit video game technologies, it sold enough to be considered popular. The critic score, according to GameSpot GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which purchased CNET Networks in 2008, is the current owner of, is 9.5 (by 2 reviews) and its user score is 8.9, one of the top ranked scores for a Mega Drive game.[4] Sheffer of the First Battalion gave the game a fairly positive review mentioning it's "quite the hidden gem", and "they truly went the extra mile for the pixel art of this game".[5]
Appearances in other games and media
Compared to other Sega mascots, Ristar has only made a few minor appearances in other games. He briefly appears in the opening sequence to the Japan-only Segagaga. He is also featured as one of the 'Gachapons' (capsule toys) in Shenmue Shenmue is a 1999 adventure game developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for the Dreamcast, produced and directed by Yu Suzuki. Suzuki coined a genre title, "FREE" (Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment), for the game, based on the interactivity and freedom he wanted to give to the player. Suzuki intended to achieve this by simulating. A comic strip starring Ristar was featured in the unofficial web continuation of Sonic the Comic, and he also makes a brief cameo appearance in issue 50 of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic.[6] Ristar makes a cameo appearance in a downloadable track for Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing due to the high demand for Ristar to be in the game.[7]
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